VPN for short-term travelers to China

If you are going to mainland China for a week or two and you have never done this before, this is the page for you. Short, practical, no fluff.

Five things to do before you fly

1. Sign up at unblockmevpn.com. A 1-month plan is fine for a short trip.
2. Install the app on your phone and laptop.
3. Connect to Hong Kong from home and verify it works.
4. Download the Android APK to your phone's storage (Android only, skip if iPhone).
5. Save an authenticator app for your bank and email in case SMS 2FA does not reach you.

On arrival

1. Connect to hotel Wi-Fi, complete the captive portal.
2. Open the VPN app. Tap Hong Kong. Connected.
3. Load any familiar site to confirm the tunnel is up.

Day-to-day

• VPN on when using Gmail, Google Maps, WhatsApp, Instagram — anything Western
• VPN can be off for WeChat, Alipay, and local Chinese apps; they work faster without it
• If Zoom or a video call stutters, switch from Hong Kong to Tokyo
• Banking: switch to your home-country server, log in, then switch back

What goes wrong for first-time travelers

1. Forgetting to install before arriving. The app store is slow or unreachable. Fix: install at home.
2. SMS 2FA locks them out of their bank. Fix: authenticator app before leaving.
3. Trying to use Google Maps without the VPN on. Fix: VPN on for navigation, or use Apple Maps or Baidu Maps which work natively.
4. Leaving the VPN off on hotel Wi-Fi. Fix: auto-connect on untrusted networks in the app settings.